| biketrailtours | Date: Sunday, 11 Oct 02, 17:37 | Message # 1 |
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Colonel
Group: Administrators
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| A Brief History of Danang
Danang has been continuously inhabited since 192 AD, when it was first settled by Indonesians. Originally a part of the Champa Kingdom that ruled much of southern Vietnam until the 15th century, Danang has played an important part in Vietnamese history for many centuries. Anyone interested in the history of the area should definitely pay a visit to My Son, located about 70 kilometers west of Danang. The former capital of the Champa Kingdom, My Son is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and considered to be the Angkor of Vietnam.
Danang was colonised by the French in 1858 under orders from Napoleon III. Along with Hanoi, Saigon, Haiphong, and Hue, the French considered Danang one of Indochina's five major cities. In 1936, French archaeologists established the Cham Museum, which today houses the finest collection of Champa Kingdom-era art. Statues, reliefs, and other artwork depicts the daily activities of the locals from the fourth to fourteenth centuries. Hindu and Buddhist artifacts are also housed in the museum, which itself is located in a beautiful French colonial villa with open-air courtyards and fruit trees.
In more recent history, Danang is best-known for its role in the American Vietnam War. The Danang Airbase was a major American airbase, used both by the Americans and the South Vietnamese. Nearby China Beach, named after its beautiful china-white sand, was home to the 510th Evacuation Hospital, where wounded American soldiers would come to recover. China Beach itself was an American in-country R&R spot, nicknamed the “Five and Dime”. The Vietcong, meanwhile, had their own hospital surprisingly close by in the caves of the Marble Mountains.
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